The present invention pertains to a telescopic gangway cabin with a canopy roof and a floor extending over the entire width of the canopy roof
Various embodiments of such telescopic gangway cabins have been known. They are docked with usual commercial airplanes, whose doors can be pivoted and thus opened around essentially vertical axes.
There are also so-called commuter airplanes whose doors are articulated on horizontal axes in the lower area and are pivoted to the outside for opening until their top edge reaches the ground. These doors are provided with stairs on the inside, so that they can also be handled without a telescopic gangway. The stairs may have one or two railings.
A prior-art telescopic gangway cabin of the type described in the introduction (U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,243) can also be used to handle commuter airplanes. However, the free front side of the floor must not be moved immediately up to the airplane for this purpose, but it must remain at some distance from the airplane because of the stairs having been pivoted out. A transition ramp is laid over the remaining gap.
In another prior-art embodiment (U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,757), the floor under the canopy roof is divided, and a mobile part of the floor can be pushed under the stationary part of the floor. Even though the floor of this telescopic gangway cabin can be moved directly up to the airplane, where it is supported with a contact threshold (bumper), the section of the contact threshold located in the area of the mobile part of the floor must also be removed from the area of the gap formed by the mobile floor part during docking with a commuter airplane. All this is complicated in terms of design and function.
Moreover, the connection end of an access gangway for airplanes has been known from DE 15 31 482 A, where the floor comprises a part firmly connected to the gangway and a mobile part, which is pivotably articulated around a vertical axis on a stationary floor part approximately in the middle of the free edge of the floor and partially extends under same.
The object of the present invention is to provide a telescopic gangway cabin which is suitable for docking with both conventional commercial airplanes and commuter airplanes.
This object is accomplished by the undivided floor having a railing in the area of its lateral edge and being displaceable together with this at right angles to the opening of the canopy roof under the side wall of the said canopy roof, preferably over the entire opening of the canopy roof Such a telescopic gangway cabin can be docked with usual commercial airplanes with retracted floor, which extends from one side to the other side of the canopy roof If the telescopic gangway cabin is to be docked with a commuter airplane, the floor is laterally extended into its end position and the telescopic gangway cabin is then moved up to the commuter airplane such that the open door of the airplane with the stairs and optionally with the railing enters the gap released by the extended floor. The extended floor is then again retracted to the extent that it will be located in front of the door opening of the commuter airplane or its railing next to the railing of the stairs of the airplane.
From the viewpoint of design, a preferred embodiment is characterized in that on the underside, the floor has two running rails extending at right angles to the opening of the canopy roof for support rollers, which engage the said running rails and are mounted on spars of the gangway structure. With the floor retracted, one of the spars shall be arranged approximately in the middle under the floor and another spar in the area of the lateral, railing-free edge of the floor. The guiding of the floor on support rollers makes possible a simple displacement of the floor, optionally also manually.
However, it is also possible to associate the floor with a drive for the lateral displacement. This drive may be of a mechanical, hydraulic or even electrical design. A motor, which is fastened to a spar and engages with a pinion a roller chain, whose two ends are fastened in the area of the lateral edges of the floor, is provided as the drive in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In particular, at least one end of the roller chain can be held with a tensioning screw.
Limit switches for the drive or also stops for travel limitation of the floor may be provided in the area of the ends of the roller chain. Furthermore, a slip clutch may be arranged for torque limitation between the motor and the pinion.
For docking with commuter airplanes, whose stairs provided on the inside at the door have railings, a transition ramp may be provided for covering the opening formed under the canopy roof next to the laterally displaced floor. This transition ramp may preferably be arranged as a fold-out ramp on the outside at the railing of the floor.
Since the floor as a whole is displaceable at right angles to the opening of the canopy roof, a continuous contact threshold (bumper) made of a profile with triangular cross section may also be arranged in front of the free front side of the floor. It is obvious that this contact threshold consists of a flexible, elastic material. The triangular cross section easily fits all conditions and makes possible a continuous transition between the floor of the telescopic gangway cabin and the floor in the airplane.
In order for this transition to remain comfortable and accident-proof for the passengers even during the docking of a telescopic gangway which extends in parallel to the airplane and is also extremely sloped (1:10), this should be made possible with a special embodiment in the form of a cabin floor which is additionally also adjusted horizontally. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned spars are expanded into a support frame, which is connected to a cantilever beam arranged on the cabin approximately in the middle of the cabin in an articulated manner and can be pivoted around an especially horizontal axis of rotation by means of an adjusting drive and adjusted to the extent that the cabin floor laterally displaceable on this support frame comes into a horizontal position corresponding to the floor of the airplane. Triangular ramps, which are fastened to the support frame and to the floor of the telescopic gangway by means of hinges, are provided at the transition from the horizontal cabin floor to the sloped (1:10) floor of the telescopic gangway.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.